Help Your Communities

I don’t have grand delusions of having some gigantic platform. Written content isn’t as performant as mind-numbing short-form video slop, after all. But I do have this itty-bitty one, and there’s an aspect of stewardship that says if you can, you should.

Many Americans experience food insecurity. Too many. Hell, you may be one or may have been one.

On Saturday, November 1st, help that normally arrives on the first of the month is not coming due to the federal government shutdown. Demand for food pantries and community support, as a result, is already surging and will continue to do so.

On top of SNAP being unavailable, the number of furloughed federal workers AND federal workers who are required to continue to work without pay (Air Traffic Controllers, TSA, etc) will increase demand on these support systems.

This may be someone you know. This certainly is someone who benefits your life directly or indirectly.

So! Call to Action:

First: If you have vulnerable folks in your life, check on your people. If you’re in a position to help them directly, help them. If not, help them find resources that can help them.

If you can contribute to your local food bank(s), do that! If you need to identify your local food pantries, Feeding America can help you find them. Then, if you can contrbute:

• 🥫 Food & Goods – this is is great!
  • 🪥 Hygiene Supplies – ESPECIALLY menstrual hygiene supplies (not covered by SNAP anyway).
    Strained household budgets that could once cover these products are now going to food. These products are EXPENSIVE and CRITICAL, so consider helping with those if you can.
• 💵 Money – This is even better since they can stretch a dollar further than we can.
  • 🏢 If you work for a corporate employer, many offer donation matching! If you donate to a registered nonprofit, you may be able to get your employer to match. That is a huge help right now.
• ⏳ Time – Increased demand for support resources means pantries need more hands on deck. Call yours to see what help they need.
  • Check out Food Rescue. They have an app that connects volunteers with grocers or restaurants who have food that can still be used but that they would have to get rid of and to organizations that can take and put it to use promptly while it is still good. Some communities have their own version – my area is not on this site but has its own.
  • 🏢 If you work for a corporate employer, some even offer paid time off for volunteering. Mine offers two paid work days off per year to volunteer. You’d be surprised what you can do with sixteen hours.

This isn’t someone else’s problem. This is in your backyard. You can help.